Prove Yourself
by Mettespo
Summary: Set after season 3: Mac settling into her new job - Is it really what she wants?
1. Chapter 1

It's been four weeks since Charlie's funeral and three weeks since Mac has started her job as news director for ACN.

Like every workday since then she stepped into the elevator and had to remind herself not to go up to the 25th but the 44th floor, where her office was now.

Arriving there she wished Millie, who had been with Charlie for ages and thankfully had stayed on as her assistant, a good morning, hoping that her smile didn't appear too forced.  
Millie was a lovely woman and had been of invaluable help to Mac while settling into her new duties, but still she almost dreaded meeting her in the mornings, because she knew what to expect: Tons of new memos, files, meeting requests and appointments that filled her days now.

„Good Morning, MacKenzie." Millie greeted her with a genuine smile and got up from her desk to follow Mac into her office.  
„Here's the newest Nielsen ratings report for last week, twelve new memos from different departments – the most important ones are on the top. Michael Tengard from finance wants to meet on the new budget proposal, Carter from dayside needs to see you today – I scheduled him in for eleven, if that's okay for you?" She looked up to wait for Mac's confirming nod before going on.  
„Marketing needs your input on the strategies to promote the new slogans and social media activities. Someone from the tech department will give you a briefing at 12:30 on what new equipment is needed and they'll need your decision by tomorrow to be able to use a special discount they've been offered. The report on last weeks target demographics is due today and in the afternoon you'll have three interviews for a position as weatherman on dayside. But..." she finally took a breath. „first of all Pruit wants to see you in his office."

Mac sighed. „Okay, just put everything down and let Pruit know I'll be there in five minutes." Millie nodded and turned around. „Oh, and could you please let Will know that I probably won't be able to keep our lunch date? Thanks."

When Millie had left the room Mac let herself fall down into her chair, leaned back her head and closed her eyes. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

Her day ended up being even worse than she had expected after Millie's briefing in the morning, starting to go downhill from the meeting with Pruit who was furious about an ad campaign Mac had approved that didn't mention the possibility of the viewer's involvement via social networks.  
Carter had wanted to see her about one of the dayside anchors who appearently had been exposed as an alcoholic to HR, but hadn't been drunk on air so far and was much loved by the audience. What did she want to do with him?

In addition to the things Millie had briefed her on in the morning, memo after memo kept coming in, an ACN team in South America got into trouble for allegedly negative and biased reporting on the governing party of their host country, so that she had to meet with legal and they'd decided to have the State Department intervene, and several staffers asked for impromptu appointments.  
Finally the budget meeting had been a disaster because Pruit's directives to Tengard were suddenly the absolute opposite of what Mac had planned with and what they had been working on for 14 days already – While she wanted to keep the budget portion for news production steady if not even increase it, Pruit intended to cut it by more than half and divert most of the money to the advertising budget and pushing the social media angle on all of ACN's shows.

By 6 p.m. Mac was exhausted and just wanted to go home. She sent a short text to Will to inform him she would meet him at their apartment and then got her driver – one of the so far very few perks of being news director - to take her back.  
She had intended to wait up for Will, but in the end she barely managed to make herself a sandwich, of which she only ate half, and crawled into bed in her underwear by 7:30, not even bothering to remove her makeup.

When Will got home after the show he found Mac curled up in their bed. She was fast asleep, not even stirring when he turned on the lights and he could tell how worn out she was by the dark circles under her eyes.

He normally didn't go to bed this early but he hadn't seen Mac all day, not even in the morning, as her work day nowadays started hours before his own, and now he just wanted to be close to her. So he quickly ate the rest of her sandwich, got changed and settled next to her in bed, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her close.

He was worried about her, especially because she also had to take care of their baby growing inside her, but he was also very proud of what she was doing.  
She hadn't talked much about the details of her position but he knew that most of it was uncharted territory for her, especially the numbers game, and that she still had a lot to learn.

Still, he was selfish enough to miss her – Not only her input for the show and having her in his ear, but he also missed the close contact they'd had throughout their work days up to now.

Jim was a more than capable replacement and he liked him, but he just wasn't MacKenzie.  
Jim couldn't push him those last couple inches to turn a good interview into a great interview and he couldn't read him like Mac did, knowing when his impatience with a guest was threatening to show or when he was on the verge of leading someone into an on-air confession with just a couple more questions, giving him the time he needed for that.  
He knew that some of this would develop over time, but nobody would ever know him like Mac.

Naturally he had told Mac that he missed her but she didn't know how much and he would certainly not let her in on that. She had enough issues to cope with and didn't need a moping husband on top of it.  
He just hoped that she would settle into her job quickly so that they could develop kind of a routine and also keep the daily lunch date they had wanted to establish, at least on 'normal' work days, so that they could at least see each other once during the day. However so far they had managed to meet for lunch two times in three weeks which was ridiculous.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Not being used to going to bed that early Will woke up at sunrise with Mac being snuggled into his chest and still dead to the world. He didn't move and just enjoyed the sensation of having her close to him, before gently running his fingers through her hair. She looked a little more rested, but still weary.

About thirty minutes later he noticed her change in breathing and knew she was about to wake up. He reached over to turn off the alarm to spare her the piercing sound she hated to wake up to and instead started to softly stroke her back and thigh while placing light kisses along her jawline and neck.  
After a moment she started to moan and her eyelids fluttered, followed by a dreamy smile. „Mmh... What a wake-up service." she mumbled with a sleepy voice. „Can I have that every morning?"

Will smiled against her shoulder. „You still have a few minutes, just enjoy it."  
He slowly coaxed her out of her sleep with his touches and butterfly kisses until she finally shifted herself onto him, took his cheeks into her hands and placed a tender kiss on his lips. „I've missed you yesterday, Billy... I'm sorry I couldn't do lunch."

„Don't worry about it." Will slid his hand up and down her back. „Did you have a hard day? You looked exhausted last night."

Mac sighed. „Yeah... don't ask. And today probably won't be better..."

„Are you doing okay? Both of you? You mustn't strain yourself, it's not just you anymore, Mac..."

„We're fine, don't worry." She gave him another kiss. „What time is it? Do we have time for some... exercise?" Mac glanced over to the alarm clock and answered her own question by sliding her hand down his chest to a certain body part of his that seemed eager to participate in said exercise while kissing him more deeply.

Will groaned. „Exercise is... uuh... very important, they say..."

„Mmmmh... and they also say practice makes perfect..." she mumbled against his lips with an enticing smile. „Why don't you show me what you've mastered so far?"

He didn't need to be told twice.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Half an hour later Mac was taking a shower while Will made breakfast. When she came into the kitchen, barefoot and just wearing one of his shirts, she slid onto the bar stool. „Oh great, pancakes. I'm starving!"

Will looked at her. „Are you eating enough? Especially when we're not meeting for lunch?"

„Don't worry. On days I don't get out of the office Millie gets me something from the executive dining room... Why don't I check my schedule when I get in and if I have time I order something from upstairs and we'll have lunch in my office?"

He smiled. „I'd love that."

„Okay, I'll have Millie let you know. So, how was last night's show? Sorry I missed it."

„It was good. No major news break, just minor stories and follow ups."

„How's Jim holding up?"

„Well... He's not _you_ , but he's doing okay. We're still adjusting, but we'll get there eventually. You've trained him well." Will smiled at her.

„He's a good kid." She smiled back at him. „Be nice to him."

„Hey, I'm always nice! Didn't I just prove that this morning?"

„Well, you better not be _that_ nice to him or I'll have a sexual harassment file on my desk on top of everything else..." Mac grinned and then looked at her watch. „Shit, I have to get ready!" She hastily finished her pancake and then hurried back to the bedroom to change.

Five minutes later she came back out, all business-like in her trademark pencil skirt and a dark blue silk blouse. Will, appreciatively looking at her legs when she closed in on him, was already waiting with her purse and briefcase in his hands, but when Mac wanted to take them from him he took her into his arms for a moment.  
„You do know that I miss those legs in my newsroom, right?"

„Just the legs, eh?"

„Sure, what else?" He shrugged but smiled when she playfully hit him. He gave her a quick kiss and put his hand on her stomach. „Take good care of our little bumblebee in there. I put a light snack in your briefcase, just in case."

„Mmmh, thanks... Did I tell you that I love you recently?"

„About 42 minutes ago, I think... Off you go." With a last kiss and a soft slap on her behind he sent his wife off.

As soon as she had stepped on the private elevator though his shoulders sagged and he ran his hand through his hair, standing there with the look of a lost puppy.

He hated to see her leave so early, he hated not working on the same floor with her anymore, not being able to see her all the time, going into her office basically whenever he felt like it, working _with_ her instead of _for_ her...  
Mac was his best friend and he just missed being with her. Waking up together, going home together.  
But he knew that this was a huge opportunity so he put on a happy face for her sake. He didn't want her to feel bad about leaving the newsroom but take this chance and make it work; she deserved it.

He still had the rest of his team, they'd manage.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

When Mac arrived at work it was the same procedure as every day.  
Millie already waited for her with a whole stack of papers and a number of new appointments, several of them urgent, and once again Mac realized she wouldn't be able to meet Will for lunch. „Millie, will you please let my husband know..."

„That you won't make lunch today?" she interrupted her boss sympathetically.

Mac sighed and nodded. „Yeah... Tell him I'm sorry, okay?"

„Of course." Millie started to walk back to her desk, when Mac called her.

„Millie, will it ever get better?"

Her assistant shrugged her shoulders. „Well, you will certainly get the hang of things in a little while which will make it a little easier, but the amount of work definitely won't get less... Sorry..."

„Thanks, Millie... Let Parker know I can see him now."

:::::::::::::::::::::::

The next days pretty much worked out the same and when Friday came Mac was ready to scream and just lock herself up in her office, not wanting to see anybody, which naturally wasn't an option.

She had to work late – again - and decided to wait for Will to finish his show to go home together. She gathered her things and went down to the 25th floor to wait in his office, but when Jim saw her walking past the control room door he invited her in.

„Are you sure? I don't want to intrude, it's yours now."

„Don't be silly, come on in. And maybe we can even baffle Will by letting you do a segment..." He winked at her.  
Mac laughed but immediately declined that offer. Even with Jim's permission she didn't want to appear to step on his turf, but she gladly sat in the back of the control room during the rest of the show and tremendously enjoyed being in the midst of what was happening for a change, her fingers only itching for a headset a couple of times.

When Jim had wrapped it up she stepped closer to him. „That was a good show, Jim, great job."

He beamed at her. „I had a good teacher, the best."

She fondly smiled back at him. „Have a good weekend. Are you going to see Maggie?"

„Yeah, I'll be heading to JFK from here and she'll pick me up in DC."

„Give her my best, okay?"

„Will do." Jim nodded. „Have a great weekend you two."

Mac winked at him and left the control room to go to Will's office. He was already changing in his bathroom so she didn't even bother to sit down but went up to the window front and looked over the city. She didn't hear him coming and startled when he stepped up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist, but then she immediately leaned her head back into his shoulder.  
„I like this view better than mine from upstairs. Down here you feel like you're more a part of it all, not hovering over everything..." She sighed. „Ready to take me home?"

„Always, come on." He kissed her on the cheek, then stepped back but took her hand and pulled her out of the office.


	2. Chapter 2

Will and Mac spent a quiet weekend, not leaving the apartment except for a leisurely stroll through the park. While Mac was almost completely relaxed on Saturday she felt herself tense up more and more in the course of Sunday.

In the afternoon they were cuddling on the couch watching a movie, but Mac couldn't concentrate. All she could think about was that tomorrow she would have to be on the 44th floor again, back with all the meetings and reports and numbers... _God_ , the numbers!

She had missed the newsroom already before, but since she had spent Friday's show in the control room it had gotten so much worse. She missed being part of the news, she missed the show, she missed the control room, she missed the team, she missed Will and she missed being in his ear.  
How could she ever have thought that she was cut out to sit on the executive floor while the news were being done elsewhere?

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she at least felt comfortable in her new job, but so far it was a daily struggle and it didn't even seem to get a _little_ bit better. She actually dreaded tomorrow morning so much that she couldn't even enjoy her day off. She felt like she was suffocating just thinking about the next budget meeting and...

„Mac? Mac, are you alright? Say something..."

She startled and saw Will staring at her with a worried look on his face. „I'm sorry, Billy. I didn't hear you, I was just thinking." She touched his hand and smiled at him. „What is it?"

„Never mind. Are you alright? I was trying to get through to you for minutes. You are all tense and didn't hear a word I said. What's going on?" Will placed a kiss on her head before gazing into her eyes again.

„I'm fine, I was just thinking about something."

„Work?" She couldn't quite place the expression his face.

„Yes...no... kind of..." Mac sighed.

„Talk to me, Mac." She shook her head. „Please, I know something is bothering you. As long as it's not anything confidential, let me in? Please?"

She sighed again and then, to his and also her own dismay, out of nowhere, she suddenly started crying against his chest.

„Oh my God, Honey, what's going on? You're scaring the shit out of me here!"

Will wanted to pull her away from him to look at her again but she just clung to him and sobbed uncontrollably into his sweater. The only thing he could do was to hold her tight and whisper soothing words into her ear until the crying started to get less and finally stopped. She was still trembling, so he pulled a blanket over from the back of the couch and covered her up.

„Shhh, alright, Baby, everything is fine. You're okay, you're fine. Just talk to me, you can tell me anything, you know that...Shhh..."

He rather felt than heard Mac saying something into his chest. „I'm sorry, Honey, I didn't understand. You have to turn your head a little..."  
After a moment Mac complied and repeated quietly „I don't think I'm cut out for the job..."

Will was stunned. „What... Where's that coming from all of a sudden? Sure you can do the job – You're _Mac_ , you can do anything! And I'm so proud of you!"

As well-meant as his words were they just resulted in more tears running down Mac's cheeks. „I... I know you are, that's why I didn't say anything... but...I _hate_ the job... Most of the time I don't even know what I'm doing!"

„Oh MacKenzie..." He cradled her for a moment. „Why didn't you tell me earlier? I knew you were stressed and exhausted, but I thought it was just until you settled in."

She sniffed and actually seemed to try to crawl into him.  
„I thought it would get better over time, but so far it's only getting worse. I don't mind dealing with the people and their problems – well, except Pruit – but it feels like nine out of ten hours I have to look at numbers, I have to talk about numbers, I have to check and doublecheck reports only consisting of numbers... How the fuck can they make someone news director who has to subtract with her fingers?"

Will couldn't help but smile at that question, but he held her tight and soothingly ran his hand over her back. „I didn't know it was so bad, I'm sorry, Mac."

She sighed. „And what's gonna happen once I tell Pruit I'm pregnant? I can't hold that off very much longer and he's gonna be livid. I've been lucky so far that I don't feel it much yet, hardly any morning sickness and the exhaustion could be much worse, too, the doctor said... But what when I'm further along?  
I'll have to go to the loo every five minutes, my feet will swell up, I'll probably get a pregnancy brain and I won't be able to work all these hours and cope with this workload for long anymore. The stress is probably already not good for the baby..."  
She put her hand on her stomach protectively and began to stroke it absent-mindedly.

„So what do you want to do?"

Mac looked up at him. „Honestly, Billy? What I would _love_ is to be back in your ear, but you have Jim and I can't take that away from him. _And_ I can't just quit... I can't go down as a big failure and let Pruit have the satisfaction of being right about me..."

„You're not a failure, Mac, don't even think that!" Will protested. „You're trying your best under extremely difficult circumstances – Charlie's not here to guide you, you have to deal with a moronic new boss, you are _pregnant_ \- and my declaration of faith in you and the boat analogy probably didn't help with that either – no pressure my ass!" He paused for a second.  
„Come to think of it we didn't even ask you if you _want_ to do the bloody job in the first place... I just made the deal with Pruit and blurted it out in front of everybody at the funeral... I'm _so_ sorry, Honey... Next time just tell me to shut up when I'm so fucking patronizing when you have doubts..." He pressed his lips to her hair and held her even tighter.

Mac snuggled closer to his chest. „You're sweet, but I don't think I would have said 'no' to Pruit; it was a pretty flattering offer... But it feels good to finally talk to someone about everything that's going on..." She took a deep breath to calm herself down.  
„You know, the routine parts I will get over time, like working with the numbers; the tasks repeat themselves over and over. It's just not my world. I never wanted to do work like this. The few reports I had to go through as EP were enough already and now it's tons more... I knew theoretically what to expect – though I _really_ wonder every day how Charlie has gotten all this work done... Did you _ever_ see him actually _do_ anything?" She looked up at Will.

„Not really, no" he replied with a stifled laugh. „So, again... What do you want to do? I'm here for you, for whatever you need."

They both contemplated for a while and finally Will spoke again.  
„I understand that you don't just want to give up, but you said yourself the job is not what you want. And that's what's most important – at least for me... I want you to be happy, I _need_ you to be happy and so does our baby. If you're already this stressed out now, how will it be in a few months and when our child is born...?"

„I know, it's really not ideal..." Mac agreed.

So... how about a kind of compromise?"

„What do you have in mind?" Mac sounded confused.

„Well, the other night you told me a little about the budget problems you have with Pruit." Mac nodded.  
„Prove yourself. Get the budget you want or get at least as close to it as you can. Don't let Pruit get away with his shit. And if you can't get it done with the budget – you might not, you know you can't win every fight - chose something else that's important to you. Show him what you can do, and when you have done that everything from there on is _your_ choice... Stay on the 44th floor because then you know you _can_ do it, despite of everything. Or quit and come back into my newsroom..."

„I _can't_ take it away from Jim, he deserves this chance. And you said he is doing a good job."

„Yeah, but he's not you...And I miss you... Nobody knows and pushes me as well as you do. I'm certain that some segments would have gone differently, would have been better with you in my ear... And I want to get up with you in the mornings, and I want to go home with you at night. I just like having you around."

„So not just my legs, eh?" she carefully nudged him with her head.

„Big part of what I miss, but no, not solely..." he grinned at her.  
„No, seriously. We hardly saw each other in the last weeks... I'm not complaining, I know that you're settling in, but if there's not even a _chance_ it will ever get better, we'd have to talk about it. You _know_ it wouldn't be easy on our family life... Not to speak about the risk for your little tenant in there..." Will covered the hand on her stomach with his.

Mac stretched herself a little to place a kiss on Will's lips, then snuggled back into his chest. „I'll think about it, okay?"

„Okay... And next time you have a problem... Just talk to me?"

She nodded and cupped his cheek, stroking it with her thumb. „I'm sorry."

::::::::::::::::::

Mac kept her promise.  
The following week was as busy as the weeks before, but whenever she had a spare minute she asked herself if she really was where she wanted to be. And although she wasn't having quite such a hard time with the numbers anymore, with every passing day she became surer that this career wasn't the right choice for her.

So she concentrated on showing Pruit that she was up to the job, just as Will had suggested. She didn't know what would come after that but for now she had a goal she could pursue, one that wasn't just surviving the day but an actual task with a result that could be measured.

Getting Pruit off his budget plans actually wasn't as hard as she had expected in the beginning. As it turned out the first time news station owner didn't have the slightest idea – and appearently not really knowledgable advisors either – about how much money was necessary just to cover the fix costs for a news division, let alone the additional amounts needed to create and process actual content.

It did take Mac some time to convince Pruit that the news weren't comparable with dayside shows talking about Hollywood gossip, the newest trend in gardening and cooking, where a large part of the content used was free promotional material or paid for by product placement. But in the end she managed to secure 93% of her initially planned budget which really wasn't bad if she took into account that most of the other departments were also being defunded.

But as important as this was, it wasn't her main objective.

Mac knew that if she really was to step down she had to ensure that the evening shows and especially the flagship _Newsnight_ had to be protected from Pruit and anyone following her as news director.  
She definitely wouldn't have any say in who her successor would be. Any recommendation of hers would most certainly just be ignored and Pruit would do anything to hire somebody who either shared his 'vision' or who he could bully into submission.  
She did have an idea on the subject but she couldn't be certain it would work out so she had to try to save the news on ACN before she resigned.

Devising a strategy took some time. Mac knew the direction she wanted to go but hadn't quite figured out how to approach Pruit. However, luck was on her side and gave her the best reason to bring up the subject, so she asked Millie to set up an appointment with him.

When she entered his office he looked up and asked her to take a seat.

„What can I do for you, McHale?"

Mac smiled at him.  
„I wanted to give you the good news in person: I have just been informed that _Newsnight_ has been awarded the Peabody award for the coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. Specifically for its – I quote – _'sensitive, balanced and cautious reporting based on actual facts and not influenced by social media activities.'_ A press release will be sent out this afternoon naming all winners."

She carefully studied Pruit's face to see if he understood the importance of this and the ramification it could have for his future plans for ACN. And sure enough after a moment she saw it dawn on him, after all he surely was a jackass but not stupid.

„Well... I guess congratulations are in order..." he slowly said.

„Oh, it's _your_ news station, people will be congratulating you, Mr. Pruit."

Pruit got up and went up to the window front, turning his back to his news director. „This doesn't change anything."

Mac looked at him for a moment, slightly shaking her head, then she spoke to his rear.  
„Let me quote for you: _'The Peabody Awards spotlight instances of how electronic media can teach, expand our horizons, defend the public interest, or encourage empathy with others... The single criteria for receiving a Peabody Award is excellence.'  
_ Do you really want to go on that stage, accept a Peabody, the most prestigious award there is in television, and announce that you will change the format of the winning show to go on a rating's hunt and give in to social media? After being awarded that price for exactly _not_ doing that? You'd be the laughing stock of the entire television industry..."

„So what do you suggest?" Pruit retorted sullenly.

„Appreciate and acknowledge that you do have a quality, award-winning program on your station. Tell people that you see the importance of social media and interacting with the audience and that you will have ACN do that on _dayside_. But news are the news and are too important to indulge in this. Your station will always be aware of the importance of informing the public, which is why the news shows will continue doing their work, with _Newsnight_ being the flagship of ACN."

„And you've got me right where you always wanted to have me..."

„This isn't personal, Mr. Pruit. But I do admit that I am glad quality journalism is still being appreciated... I'm going downstairs to let the staff know, they shouldn't hear about it over the newsticker. Care to join me?"

„Thanks, I'll be down later."

Mac left his office with a nod towards him and walked to the elevators. She felt like walking on air; this had gone even better than anticipated. _In your face, Pruit!_

She couldn't keep the grin off her own face when she went down to the 25th floor and received a number of questioning looks. She didn't bother to stop in the newsroom though but went straight into Will's office.

He looked up and a wide smile spread across his face. „Hey stranger, I didn't expect to see you down here."

Before he could get up Mac had closed the door, walked over to him, sat down on his lap and put her arms around his neck, flustering him completely with this unusual behaviour.

„Uh, Mac? Office policy...?"

„That's been suspended for the next couple of minutes. I've got great, wonderful, outstanding news for you!"

Now Will looked even more bewildered. „You know the sex of the baby? We're gonna have twins? Wait... Did I miss a doctor's appointment?"

„Of course not. _You_ , my wonderful, brilliant husband, you have won a Peabody for the Boston Marathon coverage."

Will could only look at her with his gaping mouth for a second before she leaned in for a hot kiss, but after a moment he pulled back. „ _What?_ "

„You... heard... me, my... Peabody... award... winning... husband..." she murmured in between a series of kisses, before she moved back a little and beamed at him. „I'm so fucking proud of you!"

„Well... I remember a lot of people having a lot to do with it... Eliot, Maggie, Jim, Don, _you_... Wow..." he ran his hand through his hair. „I certainly did not expect that..."

„Well, the show has won it, and you definitely earned it. Ours was the best coverage bar none. You can read the statement later, it should be coming in about an hour. You wanna tell the staff?"

„The honor's all yours – You're the boss." Will followed Mac outside, still shaking his head but just like her beaming all over. She took his hand and then called „Guys... guys... Listen up for a second!"

Everybody turned to them, clearly wondering about their happy faces and show of affection – Not that they minded, but it was rather unusual to see during work hours.

„You all know what great work you have done reporting on the Boston Marathon bombing, and I'm proud to tell you that _Newsnight_ – and therefore all of you – has been awarded a Peabody for its coverage! I know..." The rest of what Mac had wanted to say was swallowed up in the deafening cheers erupting all over the room and everybody started hugging.

Will held Mac close to him, and they both enjoyed watching the young staffers celebrate for a couple of minutes before he tried to get their attention with a shrill whistle.  
„Tonight – Hang Chew's – on me" he managed to shout, which caused another round of loud cheers.„You're coming, too?" He looked at Mac.

„Wouldn't miss it for the world." She placed a hard kiss on his lips and then grinned. „Have fun getting them to work again... By the way, you should ask Pruit if he wants to give a statement on the award for tonight's show."  
She winked at him and with a squeeze of his hand she headed back to the elevators.

::::::::::::::::::::

Later at Hang Chew's Will leaned back into his seat and watched his team.

A group of young, dedicated journalists which had gone through hard times with him, the Genoa story only topping the list. He was exceptionally proud to be able to work with them.

Mac gave him a knowing smile. „Everything alright?"

„Great." He shook his head. „I still can't believe what Pruit said on the air... Being proud of the news division _as it is_ and especially _Newsnight_? Did you have anything to do with that?"

„Let's just say, I might have given him a push in the right direction..." Mac winked at him.

„You are amazing, Mrs. McAvoy, do you know that?" He gave her a lingering kiss. "Let's go home."

::::::::::::::::::::

The next couple of weeks were still hard, but Mac was a little more relaxed. Will had been right, it was good to see that she could do the job and could even stand up to Pruit. Still, she was sure it wasn't what she wanted to keep on doing.  
She hadn't quite figured out what to do after turning in her resignation, but then fate intervened again.

„Millie, could you ask Jim Harper to please come and see me?"

Five minutes later Jim knocked at her door, looking a bit confused, as he had never been called up to her office before. „You wanted to see me?"

She took a deep breath and waived him in. „Close the door and take a seat, will you?" Then she smiled at him. „We haven't really talked in a while, have we?"

Jim nodded. „Well, I guess we have both been pretty busy adjusting."

„For sure. How is it going downstairs? How are you settling into your new role?"

„It's... it's good. You've built a great team and I basically could just take over where you left it. I know I'm not you and I know Will misses you like hell, but we make it work somehow."

Mac smiled at him. „You've been doing some really good shows, you can be proud of that. And don't mind Will, he can see me at home. How's Tess doing as senior producer?"

„She's actually doing good. She had some minor glitches in the beginning, but she's getting the hang of it. And Jenna's also doing a nice job as AP."

„That's great." Mac smiled. „So how is it going with you and Maggie? Is this long distance relationship working?"

Jim sighed. „It's not as easy as I... we were hoping for. She loves DC but you know yourself that as a field reporter she has to be flexible. She already had to cancel three weekends and cut short a couple others because she had to cover a story and that probably won't be getting better anytime soon. Her being at the end of the food chain..."

„You miss her." Mac didn't ask a question but stated it as a fact.

„Sure I do... It has taken us long enough and now that we're finally together we hardly get to see each other..."

„Well... I have a proposition for you... Just know that it's completely up to you what you make of it. You're doing a great job and we love to have you here... But Steve, the EP of _„Capitol Report"_ has resigned and will leave in four weeks. If you want, it's your job..."

Jim looked up and opened his mouth, but Mac went on. „I know it would be a small step back, _CR_ is not quite what _Newsnight_ is – yet – but within certain parameters you could create your own format. _And_ you would be working from Washington, so seeing more of Maggie shouldn't be a problem anymore... On the other hand you know who your anchor would be..." She winked at him.  
„Why don't you think about it and let me know in a few days?"

Jim seemed to be stunned and started to speak a couple of times before uttering „Wow... I didn't expect that... I will certainly talk to Maggie but I'm sure she'll be as thrilled as I am... But... what about _Newsnight_? Who would be Will's EP?"

„Don't worry about that."

Jim's reply sounded a little indignant. „Sure I worry about it. It's also my show and I don't want it to go down the drain again. I know what happened to _Newsnight_ before you came back; Will not being able to work with any EP... I'm quite certain he only accepts me because you trained me..."

„Nonsense... I'm still here, you know? Do you think I would let him go back to those days?"

„Probably not, but still... Who would be his EP?" Jim insisted.

Mac sighed. „Well... can you keep a secret?" She looked down at her desk and only gazed up long enough to see Jim nod. „Maybe me..."

Now Jim was completely speechless and just stuttered. „But... but...?", gesturing at her desk and then around her office.

„Let's just say one of many reasons is that I miss the newsroom and I miss working with Will... I guess it makes me understand all the better how you and Maggie feel." Mac looked up. „But I need you to know that I didn't offer you the job in DC to get rid of you, that's why I didn't want to tell you. If you want to stay here, you'll stay, okay? It's not that I don't have a job."

„Okay..." Jim nodded. „I'm sorry, I didn't know you weren't happy up here. Will it be okay if I'll let you know in a couple of days?"

„Sure. And Jim... Will doesn't know about this yet, so please don't tell anybody?"

He smiled and headed for the door, but turned around once more. „I would miss working with you, though..."

Mac laughed. „You'd problably hear more from me than you do now – At least we would talk every weeknight to each other from our control rooms... Off you go, I have work to do."

::::::::::::::::::

On Saturday Mac and Will spent a lazy morning in bed, enjoying their coffee, reading the papers, occasionally hinting at a story that might interest the other.

When she was through with the NY Times Mac took off her glasses, stretched with a big yawn and then snuggled back into the pillows. Will looked at her.  
„Are you about to go to sleep again?"

„No, not really. But come here for a moment, will you?" She patted on the mattress and Will obediently slid down to stretch out next to her. „What's up?"

Mac put her hand on his chest and started to draw unrecognizable patterns with her fingers. „I wanted to tell you last night already but I was too tired... I had a meeting with Pruit yesterday..."

„You told him...?"

She nodded. „I couldn't wait any longer, I had to tell him about the baby."

„You should have let me know, I would have come with you... How did he react?"

„Well, you could say he wasn't too happy about it, but the second part cheered him up again..."

„What second part?" Will asked confused.

Mac lifted her gaze from his chest to his eyes and smiled. „My resignation..."

„Your... _what_?"

„I resigned. Or better: I reassigned myself."

Will stared at her with wide eyes. „You reassigned yourself to...?"

Now she beamed at him. „To be the new executive producer of _Newsnight with Will McAvoy_."

„ _What?_ Are you fucking kidding me? What about Jim?"

„Jim is going to be the new EP for _Capitol Report_ in Washington, Steve Bowers has resigned. That way he and Maggie don't have to live in a long distance relationship. And before you ask: If he had wanted to stay here, he could have and he would have."

Will could just look at her in amazement and then broke into a wide grin. „What the fuck... How did you manage that?"

„Well, you played a big part in it, and I got lucky... After our talk a couple weeks ago I started thinking about what I really want. And I realized that news director isn't the job for me. Then I took your advise to prove myself to Pruit... I couldn't tell you earlier, but I did get 93% of the intended budget for next year." She gave him a proud smile.

„Honey, that is great, good job!" Will leaned in for a kiss. „What then?"

„I tried to come up with a plan to save our show even if I wouldn't be news director anymore. Thanks to the Peabody it was easier than expected in the end; once Pruit had committed to our show I knew I'd go eventually. It won't be easy for him to back down from this... And then the EP position in DC became available. I gave Jim the choice and he took it, so now _you_ were lacking an EP... et voilá – You're stuck with me."

„There's nobody I'd rather be stuck with..." Will let his hand run down her side. "God, this is great... And you've done all that quietly behind my back..."

„I told you a long time ago that I'm crafty." Mac winked. „Oh, and don't worry – Jim will be back here when I'm on maternity leave. EPing you would be too much for Tess, the senior producer in DC is much more experienced and he can handle _CR_ for a couple months.

Will pulled her closer towards him and buried his head in her neck. „You never seize to amaze me... I'm so proud of you, Mac."

„So you're happy with this, Billy?"

„Don't even ask!" He covered her lips with his and started to explore her mouth while stroking her thighs. Mac immediately responded, moaning loudly and putting her leg over his hip.

Much later they were both dozing off, when suddenly Will opened his eyes and nudged her shoulder. „Mmmh...?"

"If you're gonna be my EP again - Who will be News Director?"

„Don't know yet... I cannot suggest anybody; Pruit would never go for it. But do you remember Penny Larson from CNN? I talked to her a while ago. She loves what we're doing with _Newsnight_ , but was never allowed to do anything close to it so far. If she would apply... Pruit still has his women problem, so she might have a shot... But even if not: He has committed to _Newsnight_ , so as long as we keep it up and get an award once in a while it shouldn't matter _that_ much who is news director..."

„An award once in a while? So no pressure there, eh?" He smirked.

„Nope, we'll just do our job and then we'll see what happens... Together..."

* * *

Quote # 2 on the Peabody award from peabodyawards DOT com  
The Peabodies are usually awarded in spring. I took the liberty to change that for this story.

I know some people probably don't like that I have Mac returning to her position as EP, but I myself just can't see her on the 44th floor, especially as she has told Nina before that she is doing exactly what she always wanted to do. And because she has waited long enough to be a real team with Will again.  
So I wanted her to be back in the control room and there she is. Though I specifically took care not to simply have her quit, because that wouldn't be Mac either. ;-)

Hope, you enjoyed it and would love your comments!


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